Monday Night Football Recap
In a battle of unbeatens on Monday Night Football, Drew Brees led the New Orleans Saints to a convincing victory over the Miami Dolphins. With incredible accuracy, Brees picked apart the Dolphins defense, and the Saints were able to score early and often in the first half, and especially into the third quarter, to build up a lead that they not only never relinquished, but which was never really threatened the rest of the way.
Brees had a very strong day, completing 30 of 39 passes for 413 yards and no picks. It was his ninth straight game with at least 300 yards passing. Oh, and tossed four touchdown passes All in a day's work.
New Orleans thus joined the club of undefeated teams going into the month of October with a still unblemished record. Personally, I cannot recall ever seeing this many teams remaining undefeated. 4-0 is a pretty strong start to a season - it is a full quarter way into the regular season. Usually, a start like that is quite memorable for a team. Yet, five teams have managed it this time around.
On Sunday, the Seahawks overcame a 17 point deficit on the road against the Houston Texans to pull off a huge victory, to raise their record to 4-0. It marks the first time ever that they managed to get off to such a hot start.
For the Saints, the only other remaining Undefeated team in the NFC, it is certainly not the first time. The Saints started off the 1991 season at 7-0, and the next season at 5-0. Then, more recently, they began the 2009 season with a remarkable 13-0 start, en route to their first ever Super Bowl championship.
But their next game will not be easy, as they travel to Chicago to take on the 3-1 Bears, who themselves were off to an undefeated start before succumbing to the Lions in Detroit this past Sunday.
In the AFC, three teams remain unbeaten. Two are among the usual suspects; the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos. It is perhaps particularly surprising, however, for the Patriots, since they suffered such a nightmarish offseason. There is one truly huge surprise among the unbeaten ranks, and that would be the 4-0 Kansas City Chiefs.
Five unbeaten teams in the month of October! Incredible! It might have been done before, but I certainly don't remember it!
Predictions
Well, I just went on about how there seems to be far more undefeated teams at this time of the year than you'd expect there to be. But looking at the games for this upcoming weekend, every single one of those teams has a very difficult challenge ahead of them.
Also, rather amazingly, all five of the unbeatens are on the road, to boot! So, here is my first general prediction: there won't still be five undefeated teams by the end of next weekend.
So, who specifically will lose? Well, the Titans look tough, and they should be able to hand Kansas City their first loss of the season, and probably a convincing one at that.
The other undefeated team that could very well lose, although I have underestimated them before and am leery of making the same mistake again, would be the Patriots. They have to go to Cincinnati to play the Bengals. The Bengals are rather a hard team to figure out, and have been for a few seasons now. One week they are hot, the next they are not. Nothing like the consistency that the Patriots have had a reputation for being for well over a decade. I could see the Bengals pulling it off, and I can see New England holding on to the unbeaten streak. This game makes me uncomfortable, because either scenario is plausible. But, I have to pick one, so I will go with the Bengals just hanging on at home.
Another toss up involving one of the perfect teams would be Seattle at Indianapolis. On the one hand, Seattle is playing great, coming off an amazing and invigorating win at Houston. On the other hand, the Colts have been flying high the last few weeks as well. This could actually be a Super Bowl preview, potentially. At the very least, I think this is the game of the week, in a week that has a lot of intriguing games. Like with the Patriots and Bengals, it seems to me either team could win this one. But I have to pick one winner, right? So, in a back and forth affair, I see the Colts taking it, with Seattle's rather dangerous style, filled with gambles, against the pass this time working against them.
The undefeated team that I think have the best shots, despite tough games, would be the Broncos at Dallas. I think Denver is just too tough, has too many weapons, and Dallas really is struggling, particularly against strong passing games. The Broncos should be just a bit too much for them on Sunday. Home field is the only advantage that Dallas really has on Sunday, and I don't think that will be enough. Also, the Saints could beat the Bears in Chicago Soldier Field is not frozen over (in fact, the weather should be beautiful), and the Bears, despite a strong record, have hardly looked dominant. So, I like New Orleans over Chicago.
Otherwise, I think the Browns win a tough one against the Bills on Thursday Night Football and, at least for a few days, surprisingly hold sole possession of first place. The Rams should right themselves against Jacksonville, who usually serve as just the right tonic for struggling teams to get back on track against. My Giants get their first big win against Philly, which if my predictions hold, would pull them within a game of the division lead, amazingly enough! I like Miami bouncing back from their loss to New Orleans and beating Baltimore. The Packers will use the bye week to their advantage, and defeat Detroit to jump right back in the division race. The Cardinals and Panthers is a tough one as well, but home field should serve Arizona well, and I see them winning a tight one. I like the Texans in a tough game at San Fran, and the Chargers beating down the Raiders late on Sunday Night Football. Finally, on Monday Night Football, I just can't see the Jets going down to Atlanta and winning, so I take the Falcons with a big win over the Jets.
In fourteen games last week, I was 9-5 with my predictions. Hopefully, I will fare a bit better this week. Let's see what happens.
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